More Oregon Democrats and Republicans voting early this year

At this early stage, significantly more of Oregon's eligible voters have returned ballots for the Nov. 6 election than was true in the past three mid-term elections.

By late Friday, 15 percent of the state's 2.7 million eligible voters had gotten their ballots to county elections offices. That compares with just 12 percent by the same point in the vote-by-mail cycle in 2014 and 9 percent in 2010, historic state elections records show.

Turnout among unaffiliated voters hasn't increased: Just 7 percent had returned their ballots as of Friday, compared to 8 percent in 2014.

But both Democrats and Republicans are fired up to get their ballots in early, early returns show.

By the late Friday, 19 percent of registered Republicans and 19 percent of registered Democrats had turned in ballots. That compares with 14 percent for both parties four years earlier.

Four years ago, the hottest races included the contest for governor between incumbent Democrat John Kitzhaber and Republican challenger Dennis Richardson, a pot legalization measure and another to require GMO labeling.